The dark side of the Moon

The next giant leap:
China hopes to send astronauts to the Moon between 2025 and 2030.

Until China’s historic probe landing in 2019, the dark side of the Moon was shrouded in mystery. Now, scientists hope we could one day land astronauts, and even build human settlements there.

Wait, there is a dark side of the Moon?

Yes and no. The term that scientists prefer is “far side”. Essentially, from Earth, we can only ever see one side of the Moon. This is because it takes just as long for the Moon to turn once on its own axis as it does to complete an orbit of the Earth.

However, the side we cannot see is not actually always in darkness. Just like Earth, the Moon orbits the Sun — so the regions that are in darkness are constantly
changing.

Nevertheless, this “dark side” has often been the subject of wild conspiracy theories. Aliens, secret military bases and even a castle have been claimed to be hidden there. Whilst these are all myths, the United States and the Soviet Union both considered detonating nuclear bombs there during the Cold War.

And we have never been there before?

That’s right. Crew members of the NASA
Apollo
missions glimpsed it, but
Neil Armstrong
took his famous “small step” on the near side. In fact, the Chinese mission in January 2019 was only the second probe to be landed anywhere on the Moon
since 1976.

What is the point of going there?

Plenty. The Chang’e 4 probe landed in a place called the South Pole-Aitken basin. Seven times deeper than the Grand Canyon, the basin cuts deep into the Moon’s surface. By using a ground-penetrating radar, scientists discovered more about how the Moon was formed.

This process could shed light on one of the most dramatic events in the history of the solar system: the Late Heavy Bombardment. Between 700 million and one billion years ago, scientists believe that a huge number of objects were sent crashing through the solar system — some of which may have smashed into the far side of the Moon.

Scientists even think that this event could have coincided with when life first appeared on our own planet. “The Late Heavy Bombardment is fascinating because it may well have delivered a lot of the organics to Earth,” says scientist Matthew Genge.

Then, there is water. Chang’e 4 scoured an area known to contain large reservoirs of
water ice. How much? How deep is it buried? China has not as yet told us.

If there is water, does that mean we could live there?

Possibly. Throughout 2019, Chang’e 4 has been tracking
radiation
levels and taking soil samples to decide the
viability
of long-term human habitation.

One of its more precious pieces of cargo is a biosphere. This is a small container carrying six live species from Earth: cotton, rapeseed, potato, fruit fly, yeast and arabidopsis (a plant which could produce the first flower on the Moon).

On 15 January, a small cotton shoot sprouted onboard Chang’e 4. Scientists hope that this experiment will prove that simple ecosystems can survive in sealed, low-gravity environments.

China, NASA and the European Space Agency have all declared an interest in building human settlements on the Moon. And NASA plans to start constructing an orbital base as soon as 2022 (it would orbit around the Moon, rather than be constructed on the surface).

Will man walk on the Moon again any time soon?

If all goes to plan. China will begin building its own space station, and it hopes to launch manned missions to the Moon between 2025 and 2030.

Some think this is a wake-up call to other space-faring nations. “The Chinese have a careful, strategic plan to supplant America as the world’s essential power,” claims political commentator and author Michael Pillsbury. “The way they have jumped ahead in the space race is just one part of that.”

You Decide

Should humans colonise the Moon?

Activities

Watch the second video in Become An Expert (it explains how a Moon base could be built with today’s technology). Using what you have learnt, draw a design for your own Moon base. How would it work? How would people live, work, eat, sleep and relax? Present your design to the class.